The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Susan Young is the Bangor Daily News opinion editor.
The Christmas season is, traditionally, a time of hope and good cheer. This year, it might be hard to find reasons for optimism and gratitude.
As I write this, many Mainers remain cold and in the dark. A powerful storm on Monday lashed the state with ferocious wind and pelting rain. Trees brought down power lines and rising rivers and streams flooded homes, businesses and cars and made roads and bridges impassable in many communities. Clean up and power restoration could stretch beyond Christmas in some areas.
Devastation like this is always hard to fathom, but it is especially distressing just days before Christmas. This is a time that should be about family gatherings, joy and gifts. Yet, many Mainers may mark the holiday displaced from their homes, fearing burst pipes and water damage. Others are facing huge bills to repair storm damage. Some still lack electricity.
Earlier this week, Gov. Janet Mills urged continued vigilance and caution. They are appropriate words for a disconcerting time, but they hardly conjure up feelings of a holiday season.
“I am reminded of our strength in the acts of kindness, of bravery, of compassion that I have seen — the first responders risking their own lives to rescue a stranded motorist; the community centers keeping their doors open so families can charge their phones and get warm; the linemen pushing past their own tiredness to bring the lights back on tonight — the unshakeable spirit and unbreakable strength of Maine people, the very best of our state,” the governor said on Wednesday. “We have challenging days ahead, but we will get through this.”
“Challenging days ahead” could have been a sad mantra for 2023.
This week’s storm wreckage was a capstone to what could easily be considered an annus horribilis, the Latin phrase for a horrible year that was popularized by Queen Elizabeth in 1992.
The defining event for 2023 was a deadly mass shooting that briefly put Maine into the national headlines while reigniting a needed discussion of the many steps that must be taken to reduce gun violence in America.
In late October, Lewiston joined the horrifyingly long list of communities that have been harmed by mass shootings. On Oct. 25, Robert R. Card II, an Army reservist, opened fire at a bowling alley and bar and grill, killing 18 and injuring 13. It was one of the worst mass shootings in American history. It came just months after a gunman allegedly killed his parents and their two friends in Bowdoin, before shooting at cars on the interstate in Yarmouth.
Many people, including Card’s family and fellow soldiers, warned of Card’s deteriorating mental health and sought help for him.
Tragically, those efforts were not successful, in part because of shortcoming in current laws. A commission is currently reviewing the events surrounding the shooting and I anticipate that their findings will lead to proposed changes in laws and policies.
Lawmakers and others should not be hesitant to make the changes that could spare other communities, in Maine and across the country, from the violence that descended on Lewiston. That includes changes to gun laws as well as improvements to our systems for assessing and treating mental health needs.
But, for now, my heart aches for the families that are celebrating their first Christmas and other holidays without their beloved father, son, mother, daughter, brother or sister. For those who will begin a new year without the love and support of a family member, friend or co-worker who was killed in a senseless massacre.
For many Mainers, 2023 was a terrible year. For that I am deeply sorry.
If you’ve read my column for a while, you know that I am a relentless optimist. So, despite my heartache and despair, I believe that Mainers will continue to work together, to support one another and to value our common good.
I, of course, can’t promise that next year will be better than this annus horribilis. But, I am hopeful.
